Across the nation.

Once-banned Thalidomide Fights Bone Cancer, Researchers Learn

MASSACHUSETTS — Scientists will report Thursday that thalidomide, the notorious sedative that caused the deformation of thousands of babies in the 1960s, can slow the course of a deadly bone cancer.

Some experts say it even may become the most effective new drug for the disease in decades.

In a study of 84 patients with advanced forms of multiple myeloma, Dr. Bart Barlogie, an oncologist at the University of Arizona, and his colleagues found that one-third were helped by thalidomide, and two went into complete remission.

While the numbers are not high, experts say the results are startling because the patients had not responded to other therapies and the disease is notoriously difficult to treat.

"This is very significant," said Dr. Philip Griepp, a myeloma expert at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

In an editorial in the Boston-based New England Journal of Medicine, which is publishing Barlogie's findings Thursday, two experts at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston wrote that, given the condition of the patients, "the effect of thalidomide is indeed remarkable."

Thalidomide was banned worldwide in the early 1960s after the birth of thousands of deformed babies, mostly in Europe, Canada and Japan, whose mothers took it for morning sickness.

In recent years, it has been experiencing a revival, and scientists are studying it for such health problems as AIDS and breast cancer. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved it in the United States for the first time, for treatment of leprosy.

The drug is being marketed by Celgene Corp. of Warren, N.J., which provided it for Barlogie's study and helped analyze the data.